Hosiery washer



March 26, 1957 M. F. BRANDENBURG 2,786,316

HOSIERY WASHER Filed Dec. 3, 1954 IN V EN TOR. Mltn E F BEAHQEHBURGUnited Eitates Patent HOSIERY WASHER Miltie F. Brandenburg, Decatur,Ind.

Application December 3, 1954, Serial No. 472,879

1 Claim. (Cl. 68-213) This invention relates to a hosiery washer and hasfor its primary object to facilitate the rapid cleansing of articles ofhosiery and to avoid injury thereto.

Another object is to enable the hosiery to be agitated without danger ofproducing runs, snags or the like in the fabric of the hosiery.

The above and other objects may be attained by employing this inventionwhich embodies among its features a hollow sphere of resilient flexiblewaterproof material having an access opening extending therethrough, aplug removably fitted in said access opening to effect a watertight sealwith the sphere, and fingers carried by the sphere and extendingthereinto for supporting an article to be washed within said sphere andout of contact with the wall thereof.

Other features include circumferentially spaced rows ofcircumferentially spaced fingers of flexible resilient mate rial carriedby the sphere and extending radially thereinto for supporting an articleto be washed within the sphere and out of contact with the wall thereof.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a hosiery washer embodying thefeatures of this invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially on the line2-2 of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially on the line3-3 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the hosiery washer designatedgenerally comprises a hollow sphere 12 having an internally screwthreaded access opening 14 extending therethrough. The sphere 12 iscomposed of a resilient flexible waterproof material, and threadedlyengaged with the internal screw threads 14 of the access opening is anexternally screw threaded plug 16 of a material similar to that fromwhich the sphere 12 is constructed. Carried by and projecting inwardlyalong radii into the sphere are fingers 18 which are formed integrallywith the sphere of a resilient flexible waterproof material so that anarticle to be washed will be supported by the fingers in spaced relationto the wall of the sphere 12. It is to be noted that the fingers 18 arerelatively short and are provided with rounded inner ends so as to avoidsnagging or otherwise injuring an article of hosiery which may be placedwithin the sphere for washing.

In use, it will be evident that the sphere is partially filled withwater containing a suitable detergent and the article to be cleansed isintroduced into the sphere after which the plug 16 is engaged with thesphere to close the access opening 14. With the access opening closed,the sphere 12 is manipulated to cause a gentle movement of the articleor articles to be washed and cause the liquid contained within thesphere to move through the mesh of the article or articles. Aftermanipulating the sphere by squeezing for a sutficient period of time,the plug 16 is removed and the detergent containing liquid is dischargedthrough the access opening 14 after which a rinsing liquid may beintroduced into the sphere and by manipulation thereof such as squeezingand rolling, the articles to be cleansed can be freed of the detergentsolution. When suflicient rinsing has been accomplished, the plug 16 maybe removed and the liquid discharged through the access opening 14,after which the article or articles contained within the sphere may beremoved and dried in any conventional manner.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferredembodiment of this invention, it is to be understood that minor changesin the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts maybe resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as claimed.

What is claimed is:

A hosiery washer comprising a hollow sphere of resilient flexiblewaterproof material having an access opening extending therethrough, aplug removably fitted in said access opening to effect a water-tightseal with the sphere, and circumferentially spaced rows ofcircumferentially spaced fingers of flexible resilient material carriedby the sphere and extending radially thereinto for supporting an articleto be washed within the sphere and out of contact with the wall thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 45,309Bliss Dec. 6, 1864 1,488,414 Vail Mar. 25, 1924 1,849,896 Weiman Mar.15, 1932 2,133,584 Spanel Oct. 18, 1938 2,410,323 Wellman Oct. 29, 19462,672,902 Prager Mar. 23, 1954

